George Bently Norwood
Trusting in the promises of God, George Bently Norwood left this life on March 26th to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Dad was born September 10th, 1937 in Lorena, Texas. He spent his formative years in Fayetteville, Texas where he professed faith in Christ and was baptized at the age of sixteen. He was an ordained deacon and served the church faithfully throughout his life. Dad earned a degree in Biology from Southwest Texas University in San Marcos while working three part time jobs to pay for his education and while meeting the requirements for a commission in the United States Air Force through ROTC. It was there he met and married our mother, Carolyn L. Pennington. The two were passionately devoted to one another for 59 years until Mom passed away, with Dad at her bedside, last August.
Dad served in the United States Air Force as a Security Police Officer in the Strategic Air Command (SAC). He was assigned to bases in Florida, Puerto Rico, Kansas, Massachusetts, Arizona, Texas, Thailand, Louisiana, and Virginia and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1981. He had a demanding job which involved managing security and law enforcement at some of the most sensitive facilities in the nation, including many with nuclear missiles and weapons stockpiles.
He was entrusted with several major commands over the course of his career and received numerous awards, including the Air Force Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Metal, Defense Meritorious Service Metal, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and the Bronze Star.
Dad was a trusted leader and mentored many young airmen and officers while in the Air Force. Following military service, Dad worked for JAYCOR providing logistical support to several US government agencies. Despite many career achievements, Dad was exceptionally humble. He was a man of simple tastes and pleasures. He preferred terms of endearment to titles, fatigues to dress blues, and he valued family time above all else. Dad was a provider, care-giver, and consummate family man. His greatest accomplishments in life were manifested through selfless service as a faithful husband, loving father, and exemplary grandfather.
He was one of the most generous men you could ever hope to meet and he loved to help others. He enjoyed travelling, camping, fishing, playing practical jokes, and making people laugh. He had more friends than we could ever hope to count and left a trail of them wherever he went.
Dad was our leader, mentor, and role model. He will be missed in ways we can’t begin to imagine, but his legacy lives on in each of us and in the multitude of lives he touched over the years. He is survived by his daughter Kristi Hickman (husband Steve); sons Kyle Norwood, Kevin Norwood (wife Kathy); grandchildren: Michael, Kaitlyn, and Matthew Hickman, and George, James, Virginia, Brianna, and Lindsey Norwood; sister, Jo Free; sister-in-law Kathy Ignacio; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A memorial service in celebration of Dad’s life will be held at Del Norte Baptist Church in Albuquerque on April 27th at 10:0 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to your favorite veteran’s charity.